Breaking the News
by A. LaRosa
Summary: Kataang-centric, one-shot. "What? You wanted to know why we didn’t do anything to prevent the furthering of an almost dead nation." Review!


**Disclaimer**: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender; Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko have me beat in that area. Those crazy geniuses.

**Author's Note**: This started from a short drabble I wrote a while back, and I felt like expanding on this due to the fact that I envisioned this so vividly and couldn't help but write it out.

Please, review when you're done and tell me what you think!

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_**Breaking the News**_

**Rating**: PG

_May 3, 2008_

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She paced back and forth in the small room, wondering how she was going to break the news to her brother about... well, about _this_. Telling her father was hard enough, but he was her father and had to accept her state no matter what.

She was a married woman, married to the Avatar--so how long was it really going to be until she was pregnant with their first child?

She knew, however, that Sokka liked to live in his own protective little bubble and liked to believe that, as his little sister, she would always remain young, chaste, and innocent for all eternity. As she paced, she tried to figure out the most effective way of bursting said bubble... delicately. She could either be tactful and swift with her approach, coming right out and telling him, or she could dance around the topic until he figured it out himself.

She didn't know which would be more painful to endure.

Sokka was known for being overprotective, and even though it touched her that he cared about her so much... a line had to be drawn to force him back a couple paces. A very bold, thick line that he could actually understand without having to dramatically nurse his wounded pride.

As she continued to pace, she waited for her brother to come in from hunting, which shouldn't be taking as long as it was. He was more like a father to her than her own father was to the both of them, so she understood why she was more nervous telling him than telling Aang or her biological father.

Coming in the house, Sokka shook off the extra snow on his coat before noticing that he wasn't alone. "Oh, hey, Katara. What're you doing here?" With a yank on his wolf's tail, he kicked off his boots.

"I just wanted to see my brother, that's all," she replied sweetly, putting her hands inside her coat's pockets. "How've you been?"

"Uh," he paused, looking her up and down before speaking, "I've been fine. I see you every day, though, Katara. You never come to see me unless something is wrong or you need something from me." He cocked an eyebrow at her. "So, which of the two is it? Did Aang do something to you? 'Cause I swear to–"

"Sokka! No, Aang didn't..." she paused, chuckling at her own thoughts. "Well, maybe. But, really, that's not what I meant. I just wanted to see you, catch up, see how your family is doing."

"Seriously, Katara, you see all of us--_all the time_. What new thing could be so–Suki's not pregnant again, is she?"

"Uh," she paused, glancing in the direction of the kitchen where she knew Suki was feeding their one-year-old, before looking back at him, "not that I know of." She smirked evilly. "Why? Worried?" she teased, taking a hand out of her pocket to put on her hip.

"I'm always worried."

"As you should be," she smirked, giving him a look.

There was a pause as he shifted weight from one foot to the other.

"Why are you here again?"

"Right. I came here to tell you something," she grinned, excitement bubbling over that was previously subdued. "I'm–"

"You know, something looks different about you," he mused out loud, looking her up and down again.

She was poised to finish her sentence, but paused as his statement sifted through her thoughts. "You think?"

"Have you done something new with your hair?" he asked, trying to pinpoint what was different himself.

"No." She rolled her eyes.

"No, that's not it," he said, her answer seemingly unheard. "You look like you're glowing or something."

"Why would you think that?" she asked, smirking.

"It looks familiar somehow, it's on the tip of my tongue. It's kind of like when Suki–" he stopped abruptly as the thought finished in his head. "No."

"No?"

"No, _no_, **no**."

"What are you '_no_'-ing?" she asked, giving him a wry stare.

"You can't be. Can_not_ be."

"Specifics would be lovely, Sokka," she dead-panned. She smirked, however, when she heard Suki speak in baby-babble to her child about how Daddy was a _special _man. Special being overly emphasized. She also heard a hushed greeting as her husband entered the back way into the home and feared the worst if he walked in on this conversation.

"You didn't use contraception?" her brother hissed, somehow feeling that this would be the right way to go about the conversation.

"Like _you _know what contraception is. Really? Contraception? For _what_?" she asked. Forms of contraception were scarce, especially in cultures trying to rebuild themselves–like the Airbenders–a prime example. Why would she purposefully halt something so beautiful?

"For what? For _what_, you ask? Not allowing him to–"

"Allowing him? I believe I was mostly at fault here, Sokka. I'm the one who took off his clothes, pushed him down, and–"

"Please stop talking. For the love of anything good and holy, _please _stop talking."

"What? You wanted to know why we didn't do anything to prevent the furthering of an almost dead nation," she replied smugly, crossing her arms over her chest.

Aang started to walk in, saw the look on Sokka's face, and immediately turned and walked right back out.


End file.
